Chai Break?

This is another case of stumbling on to the unexpected... While driving through Noida yesterday, Lesa and I came across two elephants standing at the edge of a busy intersection. There were no drivers (mahouts) attending these giant animals. No ropes attaching them to anything. No one was really even paying attention to them (except us). The elephants were just standing there in the morning sun - gently nudging each other, calmly swaying their trunks as busy traffic passed them by...
Come to find out that the elephant's "mahouts" had decided to take a chai break. The two drivers "parked" the animals on the street corner and walked to the neighborhood chaiwalla for some tea...

Cleaning fruits and Vegetables

Several people have asked me about food and how you keep from getting sick. This is definitely an issue here - especially for fresh fruits and vegetables. Many of these are grown locally. The quality is usually pretty good - once you find the best local markets. "Cheap and Best," is the phrase that describes a good day of shopping here.

Because most produce is grown by local farmers, the fertilizer used to grow them is very inconsistent. The water they are rinsed in prior to sale is also contaminated in some way - either with chemical or biological waste. Fertilizer is part animal waste. Irrigation water often contains human waste.

We follow a few simple rules: Our neighbors have helped us find the best markets and we try to use consistent vendors. Our driver helps us get better prices.

The best way to prevent illness is to simply wash your vegetables when you bring them home. We soak them for about 10-20 minutes in a product called, "Steriliq." It is a mild solution of essentially bleach and water. As the bottle says, it was originally designed to sterilize baby bottles but it works great on produce as well. Steriliq kills most of the surface bacteria. Then we rinse the veggies with filtered (RO) water and let them air-dry on the counter before we place them in the refrigerator.This time of year the produce dries in a very short time! And as you can see, the vegetables are very fresh and nice. The whole process probably takes about 45 minutes.

Obviously we cook most of our vegetables, but we do sometimes eat raw cucumber, tomatoes, and many fruits. No major problems so far!

Passive-Aggressive?

I think I've been pretty good at managing all sorts of folks in the US, but my learning-curve has been steep for managing household staff in India. Although I'm still not 100% sure, I might have made our housekeeper angry one day... and this was the result:My underwear was drying out on the front balcony railing for all 800 of my apartment complex neighbors to see. I suppose revenge is sweet...